symposium

American  

[sim-poh-zee-uhm] / sɪmˈpoʊ zi əm /

noun

• symposiums,
  plural
• symposia
  plural

1. a meeting or conference for the discussion of some subject, especially a meeting at which several speakers talk on or discuss a topic before an audience.

2. a collection of opinions expressed or articles contributed by several persons on a given subject or topic.

3. an account of a discussion meeting or of the conversation at it.

4. (in ancient Greece and Rome) a convivial meeting, usually following a dinner, for drinking and intellectual conversation.

5. (initial capital letter, italics) a philosophical dialogue (4th century b.c.) by Plato, dealing with ideal love and the vision of absolute beauty.

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symposium British  

/ sɪmˈpəʊzɪəm /

noun

1. a conference or meeting for the discussion of some subject, esp an academic topic or social problem

2. a collection of scholarly contributions, usually published together, on a given subject

3. (in classical Greece) a drinking party with intellectual conversation, music, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• symposia
  plural
• symposiums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of symposium

1580–90; < Latin < Greek sympósion drinking party, equivalent to sym- sym- + po- (variant stem of pī́nein to drink) + -sion noun suffix

Explanation

A symposium is a public meeting about a topic in which people give presentations. If your knitting club holds a symposium, various knitters will give presentations about anything having to do with knitting. A symposium can be a one-time conference or a regular meeting, but it will probably include some amount of discussion or public speeches on a particular subject. Many people who attend symposiums will be part of the audience for many of the presentations, but during the course of the event, give their own presentation or be part of a panel discussion.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

symposium symposia symposiums

Warsh said during a speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday that he was impressed by the economy’s performance but expressed concern about inflation remaining above target.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

But in a highly anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers and economists in Wyoming, he left traders with few doubts that he was ready to increase borrowing costs.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

On Friday, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh spoke at the annual Jackson Hole, Wyo., economic symposium, and opened the door to an interest-rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting in September, saying inflation is a concern.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 30, 2026

That marked the stock market’s worst performance in a decade of keynote addresses by the Fed chair at the symposium.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

By the time the symposium was over, the consensus among many of the attendees appeared to be that the kouros was not at all what it was supposed to be.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

The public-facing work of the organization, like its panel discussions, debates, and academic symposia, can seem unobjectionable.

From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2022

The settlement includes $5,000 reserved in the provost’s office to pay for meeting expenses, events and symposia sponsored by the Carolina Black Caucus per year through June 2025, according to Hannah-Jones.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2022

With this April 15 marking the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking baseball's color line, Major League Baseball will celebrate the occasion with great fanfare – with tributes, movies, TV specials, museum exhibits and symposia.

From Salon ● May 14, 2022

Finally, the Greeks took part in a range of cultural practices, from listening to traveling storytellers who recited the Iliad and Odyssey from memory to holding drawn-out drinking parties called symposia.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

“We talked about physics,” Oppenheimer recalled, recognizing that Ernest’s intellectual interests were narrower than his own and that he might not be especially receptive to wide-ranging symposia on Eastern philosophy and Western art.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

“We are gods,” a colleague insists to Cross in one of several midnight symposiums on ethics and existentialism.

From New York Times ● Mar. 28, 2024

Premier Li Qiang in March declared China open for business again, and since then provinces and cities from Sichuan to Chaozhou have sent delegations across the globe to pitch and invited investors to rare symposiums.

From Reuters ● Jul. 24, 2023

The 49-year-old political activist and lawyer won’t be a traditional full-time faculty member, the university says, but she will lecture, invite guest speakers, and host symposiums.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 5, 2023

The “museological intervention,” as she refers to it, included exhibitions, performances, screenings and symposiums that collectively questioned historical and contemporary representations of Africa.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2022

These symposiums in the gravel-pit tried to solve certain problems in a very speculative manner.

From Sinister Street, vol. 1 by Compton MacKenzie

Related Words

• convention
• discussion
• forum
• meeting
• panel discussion
• round table
• seminar